We make it easy to sell your work to a global community of art lovers and collectors. When you sell an artwork, you will receive 60% of all profits. Saatchi Art handles the shipping logistics, and collectors pay for the cost of shipping, so you only have to worry about covering the costs of packaging materials. We offer secure payments by check, wire transfer or PayPal. Our support specialists ensure our artists and collectors are financially protected on every sale. Get handpicked by our curators for recommendation to a wide range of clients, from designers to architects to emerging and seasoned collectors.
Please review the step-by-step checklist for getting started with selling your artwork on Saatchi Art.
- Verify Your Identity
- Photograph Your Artwork
- Upload Your Artwork
- Complete Your Profile + Artist Statement
- How To Price Your Artwork
- Use Keywords
- Branding + Marketing 101
- Keep Your Portfolio Up To Date
Verify Your Identity
In order to verify your identity with Saatchi Art, you must provide you information on the Artist Account page and upload a government-issued photo ID such as a driver license or passport. To do so:
Step 1 – In Studio, go to Account from the top menu.
Step 2 – Provide required information: (1) your seller type, (2) address, (3) VAT information if you are from EU/UK
Step 3 – Scroll down to then click Upload ID.
Step 4 – Read the ID uploading agreement and instructions, then click Choose File to browse for the image of your photo ID on your computer.
Step 5 – If you’re using an Artist Name (i.e. a pseudonym) that‘s different from the name on your government-issued ID please enter your Legal Name in the field provided.
Step 6 – Click Submit.
NOTE: It can take 24 hours for IDs to be approved in our system.
Once you provide the required information and your ID is verified, you’ll receive a confirmation email letting you know that you can begin selling your work on Saatchi Art.
PHOTOGRAPH YOUR ARTWORK
One of the first things you must do in order to begin selling on Saatchi Art is to photograph your artwork, so you can share your works with collectors.
Your image must be:
- A JPEG file in RGB color format (not CMYK)
- At least 1200 pixels x 1500 pixels
- Less than 50MB
Please read below for some tips and important information on how to produce great quality photographs of your artwork.
Lighting
Color Balance and Exposure - The color of the room, temperatures and use of flash can all distort the color balance, resulting in blues, yellows and greys that really should more closely resemble white.
Harsh Shadows and Reflections - Ensure your light-source provides even color and no directional shadows or reflections, which can distract from your artwork.
Quality
Noise And/Or Compression - Avoid excessive noise by using a low ISO, (ideally between 100-200), or by shooting in sufficient light. (A cloudy day can be ideal, as the clouds work like a giant softbox). Check to ensure your camera is shooting at its highest quality settings and the file is saved at maximum quality.
Intrusive Digital Signatures Or Text - Artwork celebrates the signature of the artists, representing ownership and creation; however, digital watermarks or in camera date and times make your work appear less valuable.
Composition
Parallel Angles/Rotation - If you must tilt artwork to take a photograph, ensure the camera is also at a parallel angle. A square or rectangle should have even edges.
Borders and Padding - Crop excessive blank space, artwork borders, mattes and padding. Adding extra space will not bypass you from minimum size requirements.
UPLOAD YOUR ARTWORK
Before you begin, be sure your image file meets our requirements for upload. Your image file must be:
- A JPEG file in RGB color format (not CMYK)
- At least 1200 pixels x 1500 pixels
- Less than 50MB
Once you’ve confirmed those details with your image file, you’re ready to begin uploading your art!
You will be asked for the following listing information when uploading your art:
- Artwork Title.
- Artwork Description. This is a great opportunity to mention what materials were used to create the work; what type of surface the work was created on; is the artwork framed or unframed; and do you have any recommendations for framing or installing the work?
- Date of Creation. When was the artwork created?
- Artwork Price. When pricing your art, it is important to adopt a consistent fact-based price structure. As an artist, you should always be prepared to explain how and why you set your price. Prices need to be based on recent sales, the cost of labour and material, and comparisons with similar works. Compare your art to what sells, not what does not sell.
- Category - Medium - Style - Subject Matter. This information will be especially useful for Search and Browse features. The more information you input, the easier it will be for collectors to find your work!
- Dimensions. This is incredibly important information! Collectors often intend to hang artwork in a specific space, so please make sure you input the correct dimensions in either centimeters or inches.
- Keywords. Choose a maximum of 5. Effective keywords describe such elements as: medium, subject, predominant colors, mood, materials, artists who inspired the work, and anything else that is distinctive or recognizable in the artwork.
A note on displaying multiple images: The number one request from interested collectors prior to purchasing an artwork online is to see additional images. Once you've completed uploading your artwork, you can add up to five (5) additional images. We highly encourage you to add additional images of your artwork hanging on a wall, detail shots, close ups, the edges, and the back of the artwork.
For more information on uploading your art, please visit our helpful article here.
COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE + ARTIST STATEMENT
Every day collectors ask us for more information about artists they like. Usually this is because the profile section has not been filled in, so if you have not included any information about yourself -- where you studied, exhibition history and an artist's statement -- please add it to your profile information.
Although you don’t have to include a photo of yourself in your profile, we highly recommend that you do, as many collectors are curious to get a glimpse of the artist behind the work. You needn’t, however, provide a headshot. Photos of artists in their studio look great on our profile pages, and they are especially of interest to collectors, critics, and the general public.
This kind of information can increase your chances of selling work and being noticed by curators. You can update these sections of your account by going to Account- Profile Information. Below are the following tips on how to do so.
Complete Your Bio
Finding out more about you as an artist is very important to art collectors who are considering buying your work, as well as to our own curators when selecting artworks for Saatchi Art’s featured collections and special series such as Inside the Studio and One to Watch.
Your bio should include such information as: where you were born and raised; where you currently live; your education; prizes and awards you've won; exhibitions that you’ve taken part in; and collections (both private and public) that include your work.
We recommend that you include the following info in your bio:
- Where you were born and raised
- Where you currently live
- Your artistic influences and where you draw inspiration
- Your medium(s)/technique(s)of choice and why
- Whether you're self-taught or received formal education/tutelage
- Artists you've worked under/with
- Prizes and awards you've won
- Exhibitions that you’ve taken part in
- Collections (both private and public) which include your work.
In order to update your bio, go to Studio -> Profile Information.
Complete Your Artist Statement
An Artist Statement is a basic description of your works and your reason for creating them. A successful artist statement clearly explains the reason you've made your work. We recommend that an artist statement be no longer than 200 words.
Some questions that you should consider when crafting your artist statement include:
- What is the subject matter of my work?
- What is my work about?
- How do I make my work?
- Where do I find the images I use as inspiration?
- How do I want my audience to respond to my work?
- How does my work compare to historical or contemporary artwork?
Upload Your Profile Photo
Step 1 – From your profile page, click the edit button (the pencil icon) at the top right corner of the image.
Step 2 – Click the Select File button, then browse for and select the desired image on your computer. Finally, click Submit.
Note: For optimum quality, your profile image size should be 300x300 pixels.
HOW TO PRICE YOUR ARTWORK
Pricing your originals appropriately is critical to selling your work. As an artist, you should always be prepared to explain how and why you have arrived at your prices. Therefore, it’s very important to adopt consistent, fact-based pricing principles and methods.
If you’re new to the market, the following are some basic pricing principles and methods for you to consider.
Price your art based on comparables. Set your prices similar to those of other artists with similar experience and who work in similar mediums. When comparing your works to others, consider factors such as dimensions, medium, materials, and the artists' achievements such as prizes, exhibitions, press, etc., as these will have a bearing on pricing. Also, when looking at price figures for comparison, always consider art that has sold, not art that has not yet sold.
Price your art like a retailer—at two times the cost of materials.
A common practice for new artists is to establish prices based on time, labor, and the cost of materials. Set yourself a reasonable hourly wage, multiply that by the number of hours it took to make the work and add that figure to the cost of your materials. For example, if the cost of materials is $50, your hourly rate is $20, and you spent 20 hours creating your art, then your work would be priced at ($50 x 2) + ($20 x 20) = $550.
You should also be consistent in your pricing. If you are selling one work in multiple channels, make sure its price is consistent everywhere. Similarly, be consistent about pricing works within your portfolio--for example, your larger works should be consistently priced higher than your smaller works.
Broaden your appeal by offering works at various price points. If someone likes your work but can't afford a $3,000 painting, they will find a $500 painting more attainable.
You can always increase your prices after you have made some sales and have factual evidence to justify a price increase. Keep records of all your sales and the prices at which you've sold works. Remember that it's much better to competitively price and sell your work now to gain exposure (increasing your prices in the future) than to have your work sit unsold.
If your artwork sells, the cost of packaging the artwork for shipping is the responsibility of the artist. The cost of packaging materials should also be factored into the price of your artwork. Please read our packaging guidelines to review the required packaging materials in the event that your artwork sells.
Oversized Works
Note that for larger, oversized artworks that require a wooden crate, please add an additional 30 - 35 lbs (13 - 16 kg) to the physical weight of the artwork during your upload to account for the crate. Also, if you require professional crating services, note that these services may cost up to $500.00 USD. We highly suggest that you first research your total crating costs, and then factor these costs in when pricing your artworks. If your artwork sells, Saatchi Art will provide you with the shipping of your parcel, but the cost of proper packaging is responsibility of the artists.
Promotional Discounts
Please note that on occasion, we offer promotional discounts as an incentive for new and returning collectors to explore the constantly updating selection of artwork on our site.
On occasion, we offer promotional discounts as an incentive for new and returning collectors to explore the constantly updating selection of artwork on our site. We find that offering promotions from time to time allows artists to gain the attention of collectors previously unaware of their work and a better chance to make future sales.
The discount codes typically give collectors between 10% - 15% off original works, and do not exceed these amounts. For works sold to the trade - interior designers and architects, for example - we give tiered discounts of 10% - 15% off original works.
It is worth remembering that Saatchi Art’s commission is 40%, whereas the gallery standard is 50%. This means that very often even with a discount you will be earning more through your sales with Saatchi Art than if you were to sell through another gallery that takes 50% commission.
For open edition prints, artists are entitled to 60% of the profit on each sale. Profit is calculated from the final sale price minus the costs of production.
It's also important to note that during your initial sign up, you agreed to the following condition (included in our official statement of terms and conditions)
Saatchi Art reserves the right to promote and market Original Works of Art and/or Digital Works through the use of sales and/or discounts. The sale or discount amount will apply to the listing price of Original Works of Art and/or Printed Works relating to the Digital Works. After the discount code is deducted from the sales price, our usual commission of 40% will be applied.
All-In Pricing (Global Flat Rate Shipping)
All-in pricing means that when a potential collector sees your work on Saatchi Art, the price shown will include the price of the artwork as well as the shipping costs.
We know from our collectors that they would prefer to know the total cost of a purchase, including shipping fees, before they start the process of buying a work. By giving them this information upfront we are confident that we will be able to sell more of your works.
Saatchi Art has an agreement with our shipping providers for a competitive flat rate shipping cost based on size, weight, and origin of your parcel.
You do not need to worry about calculating these costs! All you have to do is enter the price of the artwork, and we will then calculate the shipping costs for you. Please note that on the artwork detail page, the listed price of your artwork will include the shipping costs. It will look similar to this:
When you are uploading your artwork, you will be prompted to list the price of your artwork, and you will immediately see your profit as well as the additional shipping costs.
In doing this, we believe that collectors will respond well to a more streamlined buying experience, which will result in more sales for our highly valued artists.
USE KEYWORDS
To improve your profile and increase your exposure, we recommend that you add relevant keywords about each work in your artwork's detail page. The more information you include, the more ways people will be able to find your work using our search box. In addition to describing your artwork, keywords help collectors find works that are relevant to their search. This is done by matching collectors’ search terms with the keywords entered in by the artist. For this reason, we require you to enter in at least five keywords when uploading new artwork. Effective keywords describe such elements as: medium, subject, predominant colors, mood, materials, artists who inspired the work, and anything else that is distinctive or recognizable in the artwork.
Carefully selected keywords and thorough artwork detail descriptions can go a very long way to improve your visibility on Saatchi Art and on search engines like Google and Bing. We have a few tips for crafting great keywords!
1. Use your strongest keywords first
In both the keyword and the artwork description fields, lead with your strongest keywords. When returning search results, Google pays greater attention to the first several words in the title and description of your works – so make these words count.
2. Max out your artwork description and keywords
We allow artists to add up to 12 keywords and 56 characters in the description for each artwork – take advantage of this space to include strong, relevant wording about your artwork. You can also use compound keywords – two or more words strung together, like “pencil drawing”– to maximize the number of keywords you can include. Make sure to only include keywords that accurately and honestly describe your artwork; keyword stuffing can actually hurt your SEO.
3. Diversify your keywords and your artwork descriptions
Don’t use the same artwork description and set of keywords for all similar artworks in your portfolio. This targets just one type of buyer, and limits your visibility across other searches. For example, if you have added keywords, ‘modern, figurative, blue, collage’ to one artwork, for the next similar artwork consider swapping ‘figurative’ with ‘nude’ or ‘portrait,’ and ‘blue’ with ‘royal blue’ or ‘indigo.’
BRANDING + MARKETING 101
To improve your profile and increase your exposure, take advantage of what Saatchi Art offers and what you can do yourself.
We strongly encourage you to market yourself via social media websites, email, and so on.
Social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, allow you to alert your followers about new art you’ve got for sale, driving traffic back to your Saatchi Art portfolio and encouraging sales.
Utilize our built in social share features to easily post to your sociel media accounts. You can share your artwork through Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter as well as email directly from your artwork's detail page.
Every artist has an equal opportunity to be selected for a special feature by our curators. Maintaining an up-to-date and informative profile, and promoting your work can expose you to potential customers. Being an active user of Saatchi Art will catch our curators’ attention.
For more guidance on promoting your profile and marketing your artworks on Saatchi Art and beyond, read our Branding & Marketing tutorial.
KEEP YOUR PORTFOLIO UP TO DATE
If one of the works you’ve uploaded to Saatchi Art is sold elsewhere, we encourage you to keep the image up on our site, as collectors are interested in seeing the works you’ve sold as well as the works that are currently available. However, it’s very important that you edit the artwork details to indicate to collectors that the work is sold and no longer available for purchase.
NOTE: If the work is sold through Saatchi Art, there’s no need to follow these steps, as your portfolio will be updated automatically.
Step 1 – Go to your Artworks page and mouse over the image of the sold artwork you’d like to edit. Click the Edit button (i.e. the pencil icon) that appears at the top right corner of the image to enter the Edit Art Detail page -or- click the image to enter the Art Detail page and click the Edit link underneath the large image of the work to enter the Edit Art Detail page.
Step 2 – Scroll down to see the Original Artwork Status section.
Step 3 – Select the option SOLD
NOTE: Your original artwork must have at one time been available for sale on Saatchi Art before you select the option SOLD. If you are uploading an artwork for the very first time, you will need to select "For Sale" followed by the artwork's shipping information and the price. Submit your upload. Once your artwork is available to purchase on Saatchi Art, you can now edit the artwork status to SOLD.
Your work now has the red sold badge displayed as well as the price.
NOTE: Although the original is no longer available, you can still sell open edition prints of this work.
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